On March 17, 2003 at 7:40 p.m., three boys parked their chrome bikes next to a house and family they planned on disrupting. They quietly went up to the front door, rang the bell and ran for their bikes and took off. I'm sure finding much, short-lived humor in their activity.

This was the norm all last summer and fall for this family and others in the Garden Gate neighborhood.

The boys have even walked up to an open window and loudly yelled obscenities into the house and, like the spineless boys they are, took off congratulating themselves on their fun stunt. Little did they realize that they scared a family with elementary school age children who now will not stay upstairs or downstairs without a parent or sibling. These children do not feel safe in their own home.

This is in our eyes a form of terrorism.

We plead with all parents to sit down with their kids and talk with them about the harm they can cause others in their moment to "just have a little fun." For every action—there is a consequence. What may be fun to them may cause much harm to those they are having fun with.

Obviously these three boys have nothing to occupy themselves in the evenings (from dinner time till past 10 p.m.), and therefore expend time and energy planning and executing chaos and disruption to families who are doing nothing to them.

We are tired and frustrated with this. We are trying to provide our children with comfort and security during these difficult economic and globally politically challenging times and do not need these suburban hoodlums adding to the terror.

I could provide a description of the boys, as we do have details, however, it would not be fair to other innocent boys who may "happen" to resemble them or have similar clothing. But we will be sure to pass the information on to our neighbors.

All we ask is for parents to take stock and talk to their children. This is a time for us to band together as a community, not to pick on innocent families and cause havoc just for fun.

—Doug and Elaine Yee, Cupertino


Citizens should vote on the Crossroads plan

Concerning the ongoing discussions about the Crossroads plan before the city council, it is my opinion that the council's first obligation is to do what is best for the residents of Cupertino.

The vast majority of people I have talked to oppose this plan. The city council seems to believe the opposite.

I ask one question: Why hasn't the council come forward with names and reasons why this plan should be passed? If they are unable or unwilling to do so, I suggest a citywide vote on the matter.

—C. Waters, Cupertino


City fails to show public plan for new traffic light

I just read an article in The Courier about the Cupertino Town Center project and want to share with you my outrage.

Apparently the paper got input from the city. I believe that the city planning staff is way out of line.

Many people are very upset about the city's wanton disregard for the General Plan and the seemingly total disregard by the planning staff toward the concerns of residents. Nearly 500 signatures have been collected so far, and the opposition movement is growing. The planners want to change the planning codes without the community's input. This cannot be allowed to happen.

Also, they deliberately mislead the public by failing to show that they want to put in a traffic signal on busy De Anza just for this development. Nowhere in the pictures or text do they mention a new traffic light. Imagine another stop on that busy street. Imagine another 500 cars in that area. Imagine the new library and civic center and the traffic they have. Imagine speed bumps on your street.

I urge you to do homework and not be taken in by this planner/developer lovefest.

Cupertino has a great need for owner-occupied, single-family units for sale. This is what the city is supposed to seek in any development for the community. They are to seek ways to reduce traffic. They are to follow the General Plan. They are not to exceed the height limits in the General Plan. They are supposed to get the developer to pay for traffic/road safety improvements. They are not following any of these community-mandated requirements in this project.

This development will raise rents for the tenants there now, put in small, motel-size apartment buildings, provide no facilities for children and add 500 or more cars to an already congested area without any improvements to traffic safety or adequate parking. They claim that 237 rental units with more than 500 bedrooms will affect the local school by only 26 students. Get real.

Please do your homework and stop this collusion now.

We do not want high-rises.

We do not want traffic lights or speed bumps.

We do not want overcrowding in the schools.

We do want affordable, single-family, owner-occupied housing that is available for our teachers and community staff.

We do want less traffic.

We do want to see the hills.

We do want Cupertino to remain a family-friendly community.

—Dave Riopel, Cupertino


Good coaches, sports help youngsters find direction

The Courier's fine article on Cupertino High School teacher Jay Lawson's retirement from coaching was a fantastic tribute to a man who has accomplished so much in our community.

As a former colleague of Jay's in the social studies department at Cupertino High School, I can attest to his dedication to students, his enthusiasm for education and his willingness to take risks in the classroom. I never coached with Jay, but I observed his teams enough to know that our school district is losing a superb coach and exemplary leader of young men.

I do not think our community appreciates enough what coaches like Jay do for the young men in our community. Athletics give young men a positive outlet for the pressures, frustrations and problems of being 15. As someone who grew up experiencing these emotions, and as a teacher now for six years, I know that athletics help young men discover themselves and, more important, find direction in their lives.

With Jay Lawson's retirement, and many of our other superb coaches soon retiring, I worry about what will happen to those young men who do not have a Jay Lawson in their lives.

Ideally, the Fremont Union High School District will recruit teachers with not only strong academic training but also with a background in athletics so as to continue the tradition of superior academics and athletics in our community. We owe it to our young people to provide them with the type of people who will have an impact on students beyond the classroom.

—Andy Walczak, Teacher and coach, Fremont High School, Sunnyvale

Connecting with our hometown troops

As a weekly newspaper, The Courier does not have a fast enough turn around time nor the resources to be covering the Iraqi war and the controversy surrounding it in a timely way. We are, however, the community's newspaper and want very much to reflect in some heartfelt way what residents in Cupertino are experiencing as this war wages on. In that vein, we would like to print names and short profiles as well as pictures of anyone from Cupertino who is serving in Iraq. You are certainly welcome to use our letters-to-the editor section as a forum to express your pride and your concerns about the war. We will make every effort to print them all.

—Sandy Sims, Editor